The Appalachian Trail,

by Ronald M. Fisher

Gives a description of the Appalachian Trail through photographs and text. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087044106X
• ISBN13: 9780870441066
• Release Date: January 1972
• Publisher: National Geographic Society
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A delightful introduction for the armchair traveller

Between the endpaper pen-and-ink drawings of wild turkeys is a sumptuous introduction to the Appalachian Trail that was produced by the National Geographic Society in 1972. The Appalachian Trail was the idea of Benton MacKaye, and we are treated to his story of the beginning of the Trail in the Foreward to this book which he wrote. Ronald Fisher, the author, travelled parts of the Trail starting in Georgia and ending in Maine over a six month period. His companions were Dick Durrance, a National Geographic photographer, and his wife Jill. They sampled "interesting portions" of the Trail and also explored the surrounding coutryside. So the book is not only an introduction to the Apppalachian trail, but also a splendid photographic essay of the eastern states as they were over 30 years ago. All this is done with color photos reminiscent of the National Geographic magazine, a wonderful text by the author, and eight two-page color maps of the trail. The format is pretty formal. Each of the eight chapters covers a different geographic area and consists of eight pages of text, ten pages of color photos and a two-page map. The text ends with a one page Epilogue entitled "Before You Hike..." This provides some basic advice on getting started on your own exploration of the Trail. A three page Index and a list of Additional Readings completes the volume. This is a wonderful, brief, and colorful introduction to the Appalachian Trail. Being more than 30 years old, I would suggest getting some more up-to-date resource guide before you start hiking. Yet for the armchair traveller, this is a delightful place to start.